Gray Skylines
by aspentree11
Summary: The new year has started and Hermione is everything but happy. Most of her friends aren't there, she's homesick, and bored. Very bored. But when an old memory from the battle comes to her again, she can't help but wonder: Why? First story, give it a shot?


**Hey, this is my first story on here:) Hopefully it'll start off *okay* the first scene comes from the battle scene (when Harry is blacked out). Its more like a "introductory." but then it comes back to the present (if that makes sense?) Oh well, read it, and PLEASE comment, because if you don't comment or whatever I don't know if you read it and why would I write more if nobody likes it? :) Thank you...**

_"RONALD!" She roared, breaching across the broken marble and shooting spells like a blinking eye, "RONALD WEASLEY!" In only a matter of sad minutes she had lost both Harry and Ron. Ron – God, where was he? She should've been looking for Harry – Really, it was the right thing – But the only name that was exhilarating through her head was a Weasley's._

_As she ran, the distinction between what was what was getting harder. Everything was smokey, you could barely see a thing. And not only that, but you were constantly stepping on dead bodies. A pain hit her stomach as she thought of it._ Collin Creevey. She could've saved him if she came just a little sooner.

_She had to stop looking at the ground, it wasn't helping her. Whether she liked it or not, there was going to be dead bodies on the ground, and looking for Ron on the ground –_ No,_ she stopped herself, _He is fine_. She wanted to believe it, but the fear had gotten so deep that she didn't even feel her cheeks getting poured on with tears. What if he was? She was only separated for a minute, but a minute could mean anything. A dozen killing spells at the least had aimed at her since she separated from him, if only one hit him…_

_"RONALD!" She screamed desperately, her knees starting to tremble, "RON! PLEASE!" Suddenly, though, a bad feeling came over her. In the middle of a sprint she slipped on a slippery glass and landed head first into a pile of marble. In a second, her vision went black. She couldn't lift her head. Her whole body was numb. Disorientating...So…So…_

_She told herself she needed to get up. She needed to find Ron. But the more times she said it to herself, the more time she wasted not moving. There was no point anymore…Both Harry and Ron were gone. There was nothing to live for. Not now. She was ready to die – She had seen enough deaths tonight to want to. Maybe she'd see them both again. Maybe in afterlife._

_She waited patiently for something to hit her, or to let the minor concussion take her over. She didn't have faith. She was fine with dying. She even heard a loud flash behind her, maybe in a distant land. Now it was over, she didn't have to worry about death anymore. She was ready to go._

_"NO!" Somebody roared. She didn't know if it was in the back of her head or not._

_"AVADA KEDVRA!" The person shouted. She heard the spell shoot, but she didn't feel it. Maybe that was death…Maybe it wasn't supposed to be felt. But even after a few seconds she still felt herself. Was there some sort've code? A trick question to get into heaven? Surely she could hear herself, or atleast she thought she did. She was never a huge thinker about afterlife, but now she really hoped it was there._

_Time seemed to go slower than it ever had. But she felt something – Something on her waist. She felt a push and her whole body flipped. Her vision was dazy. The aura of the air wasn't comfortable though. Wasn't Heaven supposed to be holy? Peaceful? But the shouting still rang in her ears, the smell of fire still blazed in her nose; she could feel somebody's shaking hands run on her chest, on her heart._

_"G—Granger?" It shook. The voice was a contradicting voice: Like the voice didn't know what to think of the death. Not sad, but not even close to pleased._

_"Come on, wake up!" The voice said desperately, "Wake up, damnit! As much as I hate you Granger, you weren't supposed to die. Now, wake up!" The voice was familiar…So familiar. She felt as if she was supposed to hate it, but something in her couldn't. She didn't want to hate it._

_"Come on," The voice said, sounding more and more distinct now, "Don't make me hurt you, Granger. I'm not going to let you die. Now open your eyes!" She obeyed the demanding voice. She opened it as much as she could, only catching the sight of two gray eyes. Nothing more._

_"Ron?" She asked weakly, "Ronald?" The man's breathing was out of beat. But then the voice screamed. Someone picked her up. The voice protested, told them she was already dead. The person who picked her up must've been thick, because it listened to him._

_"I'll put her up," The voice told them, "Just give the filthy mudblood to me." She felt lifted into somebody else's arms. Weaker, smaller arms. After a long moment, the person's breath started going back to beat._

_"Granger, I don't have time to wake you up," The voice growled, "But I know you're alive. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're back with that Weasel."_

_And when she did wake up fully, with her mind back in focus, she was with Ron again. Maybe binded with ten other people as well, but she was safe. She was alive. Whoever saved her protected her, killed somebody for her, and lied for her. Somebody brought her back to him. And she never knew who._

* * *

><p>It was a depressing day at King's Cross station. Only two-thirds of the students had come back this year to Hogwarts, as most parents were still wary about the school reopening. Her two best friends, Harry and Ron, were standing next to her, pointing and saying hello to everybody who either wanted an autograph or a short reunion. Their excuses of coming were to see other people before they left but she knew the truth – They came for her. Harry and Ron weren't going back to school for their last year, to her least liking, as they chose to take an internship instead.<p>

"You know, Hermione," Ron said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, "It's not too late to take the internship." She knew that Ron could see her fear. Her best friends wouldn't be here this year, and most of her other friends weren't here either. Only a few select people came back from her year: Seamus, Neville, Lavender, the Patil sisters, a few others. But nobody really crossed her eyes.

"No, I want to finish my education Ron," She told him sternly, though deep inside she was regretting it. She felt his fingers unravel away from her's as somebody close to them passed. She knew what that meant – he wasn't ready for a relationship. She wanted to get angry about it, but she really couldn't. She didn't blame him.

"Excuse me, Excuse me, _Excuse me, _Excuse me!" A voice hissed across the crowd. She saw heads turning in her peripheral vision. Ron cursed beside her, and Harry (who was talking to Neville) gasped. She turned around too.

"Draco Malfoy…" She whispered. She saw him immediately, with his mother following closer beehined. He was wearing an old Slytherin robe, his hair was combed to a side, his posture as straight as a line, but she saw his scars; on his face, on his hands, on his neck. They were everywhere. Finally though, Draco saw the golden trio and froze. Draco turned a dead milk color, and gulped. Everybody who knew him (which was just about everybody) stared to watch him. At first Draco didn't move, but then he swifted past her, past run, and stopped at Harry.

He stretched out his hand. She watched as Harry only stared at it for a moment, his eyes wide with surprise.

"You're—You're supposed to shake my hand, Potter," She heard him hiss, but it didn't come out as rude and snappy as she knew Draco wanted it. Instead it was shaky and almost…scared. Harry finally stuck out his hand and shook it too.

"Nice to see you, Draco," Harry said. Draco nodded curtly, sticking his hand out to Ron. Ron didn't shake it, and Draco didn't expect him too, but Draco still insisted. Finally, Ron stretched out his hand just barely and shook it as quickly as possible as if it had germs. Ron sneered greatly when Draco parted from him. Draco, to her great surprise stopped one last time. Right in front of her. He stuck out his hand. She looked at it for a moment, at awe. She stared into him, and her eyes widened. Slowly, as if somebody else took charge inside of her, she shook his hand, and he walked away as quickly as he came.

But as he strutted away onto the train, she realized something amazing – He had gray eyes.


End file.
